What the audit checks
Seven checks. They cover the technical fundamentals that have rewarded sites since roughly 2012, encoded so the same page gets the same score every time. Each returns pass, warn, or fail and contributes a weighted share of the 0–100 score.
- Meta tags. Title under 60 characters, description under 160, canonical link present and self-referencing.
- Heading structure. One H1. Sensible H2 hierarchy. No skipped levels.
- Mobile readiness. Responsive viewport meta. Layout reflow under 600 pixels.
- Page speed signals. Server response time, HTML payload size, image weight. We use them as Core Web Vitals proxies, not a full Lighthouse run.
- Schema markup. Presence of JSON-LD types relevant to the page: Article, Product, FAQPage, Organization.
- Broken links. Sample of internal links HEAD-checked. 4xx and 5xx surface with the offending URL visible.
- Image alt text. Coverage across every image on the page. The count of missing alts surfaces inline.
Each check expands to a “why it matters / passing looks like / fix” explainer inside the report. The full rubric, including how each check weighs into the final score, lives on the methodology page.
What you get on top
Every scan also runs an AI-content detection pass against the same URL. You get:
- An overall AI-automation score with a verdict band: Mostly AI-generated, Mixed signals, or Mostly human-written.
- A category breakdown across content, structure, imagery, and tone, each with a one-line signal sentence.
- Up to three findings, each with verbatim quotes pulled from the page and a one-sentence fix recommendation.
- A page identity card: title, meta description, final URL after redirects, language, social preview image.
- A by-the-numbers stat strip: words, images, alt coverage, internal and external link counts, schema blocks, HTML size.
- The detected tech stack: Next.js, Webflow, Framer, Wix, that sort of thing.
The AI-content layer is the part most free SEO audits don’t have. Google’s helpful-content systems have been tightening since the March 2024 update, and the next update will tighten more. That’s the layer to read your site through.
How this compares to paid audit tools
Semrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog: they do far more than we do. Site-wide crawls, backlink databases, keyword tracking, competitor analysis. Their pricing matches the scope, $100 to $500 a month at the entry tier.
CrawlRanker is scoped tighter on purpose. One URL in, two scores out. The seven checks plus the AI-content layer, in about 30 seconds, with a shareable URL at the end. We never ask for an email. Run this first. Pay for the heavyweight tools once the first pass has told you whether the site is in the game at all.
Run a free SEO audit
Paste a URL on the homepage. You’ll have a graded report (SEO score, AI score, seven checks, findings with evidence) before you finish reading this paragraph.
Common questions
Is the audit really free?
Yes. Both scores, all seven checks, the AI-content findings, the page identity card, the public report URL. No signup, no email, no surprises. A paid tier with deeper multi-page audits and exportable reports is on the near roadmap. The free single-URL scan stays free.
Does the scan crawl the whole site?
Not yet. We scan the URL you paste, usually the page that needs the most scrutiny. Multi-page passes land on the paid tier. A landing page that looks fine in isolation can hide AI-drafted content one click away, so multi-page is the right call when you’re auditing for compliance or pre-launch QA.
How does the SEO score map to Google’s ranking signals?
They’re a strong proxy for “is this page even competing.” Google uses far more signals than seven, but if you fail meta tags, headings, mobile readiness, and broken links at the same time, none of the others will save you. Pass them all and you’ve cleared the floor. You still have to win on content and links.
Will the scanner work on sites that need a login?
No. We fetch the URL as a stateless visitor. Pages behind authentication walls, paywalls, or aggressive bot blocking return a clear error instead of a guess. Public marketing, landing, and product pages all scan fine.